Fang
by Phenomenatika
Summary: Eva Kerry finds out that her boyfriend was killed by mutants. So, what does she do when she finds out that she's a mutant? Humor + Romance in later chaps. R/L among others...
1. Lone Wolf

AN: Got inspired one day.  Can't remember what inspired me.  Possibly was Altoids.  Eva is Fang, just in case you were wondering.  The beginning's kinda choppy, but it'll get better in the later chapters, promise.

Feedback: I'll comment on all reviews.  And I'll do one chapter per ten reviews, or something like that.  So praise and flames are all welcome!

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men.  If I did, I would be deliriously happy and rich and wouldn't be sitting around here writing fanfics.  Wolverine…::sigh::

The envelope was on her computer desk.  The letter itself was held in her trembling hand.  The hand clenched around the paper and tore it into halves, quarters, eighths.  The pieces went flying as she threw them up and started to sob.

            Danny was dead.

            Eva had never known such pain, such devastation, such _hatred_ against something living.  She had never known such loneliness in her life.  Danny…Danny had been so perfect, so wonderful.  Had been.  Was.  Is dead.  The words echoed in her mind.  She had loved Danny so much.  And then Danny went to fight the war against mutants.  Mutants.  The word was bitter on her tongue.  Freaks of nature, they didn't belong here on Earth, they didn't belong with humankind, they should be somewhere else, preferably dead.  Mutants had killed Danny.  Eva was so sure.  The letter had only said sorry, Danny died in the service.  But Eva wasn't stupid, she could read between the lines.  Mutants had taken Danny away from her.

            Empty, so empty.  How had she ever been able to live before she met Danny?  Such a beautiful smile, kind eyes, quirky sense of humor.  He was a dream come true.  A dream now gone from her forever.  Tears splattered onto the pieces of paper on her lap, wetting the ink.  So lonely.  She was all by herself now.  Danny was gone.  Eva collapsed on the bed, burying her face in her hands, her dark hair falling around her like a curtain, hiding her from the world as she mourned.  Alone.

            Eva suddenly felt a change come over her.  She didn't quite feel like herself.  She realized that her hands didn't have fingers.  Her hands weren't even hands.  And her face felt different.  Alarmed, Eva pulled her hands, or what used to be her hands back from her face.  She saw two white paws.  _Her_ paws.  She shrieked and fell off the bed, getting tangled in her now too-big clothes.  The shriek came out as a yip, and in the startled silence that followed, Eva's mother called, "Eva?  Is everything alright?"

            Needless to say, everything was _not_ alright.  Footsteps sounded on the staircase.  Eva struggled to get free from the sheets on her bed, her studded headband falling momentarily over her eyes, only to be shaken off.  Finally pulling free, Eva dashed into the shelter of her walk-in closet, between the piles of shoeboxes and under the hung shirts and dresses.  Almost immediately after she had, her mother softly knocked and entered the room.  "Eva?"  Her mother looked around, shrugged, and went back out, closing the door behind her.

            Eva breathed a sigh of relief, then tentatively padded to her mirror, accepting the fact that she was now walking on four legs instead of two in a relatively numb manner.  When she got to the full-length mirror, Eva gasped softly.  Looking back at her was a snow-white wolf.  Pristine, beautiful fur covered her entire body, and nothing was recognizable as her human self.  But her Irish green eyes still peered back at her.  Her head leaned forward to get a closer look, and in doing so, her nose tapped against the glass, misting the surface.  Eva sat back on her haunches, noticing now her new tail swishing cautiously back and forth.  What is going on?  She thought.  One word came to mind: Mutant.  Probably a mutant had transformed her into a wolf because of its own miserable, spiteful reasons.  Hadn't they done enough to torment her?  Eva lay down back in the closet and slept in the shadows of safety, tears still running down her cheeks.

            In the morning, Eva woke up cold and cramped.  The first thing that hit her was that Danny was dead.  Following close behind was the realization that she was no longer a wolf.  Eva flexed her fingers gratefully before hugging herself against the chill.  

Mrs. Kerry, Eva's mom, called her down for breakfast.  Eva breathed a sigh of relief that no questions had been asked and went downstairs.  Well, whatever freakish mutant spell had been put on her yesterday was gone now.  But Danny…Danny was still… Eva bit her lip and crossed her arms as she looked out the window forlornly.

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            Professor Charles Xavier was a very busy man.  He sorely missed the old days when he could just lie back in his nice, comfy chair in his office and listen to Bach or Beethoven.  Ever since the war had been initiated by the government, not a peaceful moment had existed.  Professor X sighed and slipped on the helmet connected to the Cerebral unit (sp?).  The war had put young mutants in more danger than ever.  He had taken it upon his own shoulders to try and find them all before the angry mobs did.  So far, he had had relative success.  He could only hope that it would stay that way.

            Closing his eyes, the Professor concentrated on the mutants.  A pyro-kinetic; safe with a family that supported mutant freedom.  A telepathic; able to control her powers relatively well, and already finding her way over to the school.  A mental nudge here and she was put on the right path.  Professor X suddenly frowned.  A mutant with the ability to change their own composition was going out of control.  The Professor reached up to take his helmet off, but then stopped as another presence caught his attention.  An animal shape-shifter, in distress.  He quickly lifted the helmet off his head and called for his X-men.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

            Eva had only just started to forget.  Then all Hell broke loose.

            She had been sitting at her piano, playing Für Elise, when an infernal noise broke her concentration and brought her mother running.  Opening the door, they saw a giant jet landing in their front yard…and more than half of the street.  Her mother turned white and shoved Eva into her room.  "Stay here, and _don't_ come out," Eva's mother ordered.  Then Mrs. Kerry (Eva's mom) went and dialed 911.  "Operator?  Operator, I have an emergency.  There's a jet that just landed in my front yard and…my God, I think that there are mutants on board!  Help!"  After she had given the operator her address and all other necessary information, Mrs. Kerry hung up and took down her husband's hunting rifle from the top of the closet by the front door.  She inserted bullets and, as calmly as possible, waited by the front door.

            A teenager, only a little older than Eva, descended from the jet and calmly walked towards the door.  She knocked politely and stood back and waited.  Mrs. Kerry flung open the door and the girl suddenly found herself staring down the barrel of the rifle.  "Please, ma'am, calm yourself," she said, not at all intimidated by the gun, which frightened Mrs. Kerry more than anything had so far in her life.  "We are simply here to collect Eva in order to ensure her safety.  I trust that I find you both well?"

            "Well?!?" screeched Mrs. Kerry, her grip on the rifle once again firm, "I've lost my husband, brother, and my daughter has lost her boyfriend to your infernal kind, and now you mean to take my Eva away as well?"  Without a second thought, Mrs. Kerry pulled the trigger, then again, and again.  After the sound of the last shot had died away, she opened her eyes, not knowing why she had closed them in the first place.  She choked when she saw that the girl still stood there, looking unscathed and rather ticked off.

            "I hope that we will not repeat that experience anytime in the near future," said Shadowcat, the teenaged girl.  "Eva is not safe here.  Her mutant powers will make her a target for anti-mutant organizations, of which there are many, and the government.  I will escort her, and other mutants, to a place where she will be sheltered and kept safe until this war is over."

            "Mutant…powers?" said Mrs. Kerry, her voice dying in her throat.  Her daughter?  A mutant?  One of those freaks who were responsible for so many lives taken from the human race?  "Impossible!" she shrieked and, wielding the rifle like a club, swung at the girl's head.  Shadowcat concentrated and the gun went right through her without harming her at all.  The momentum, however, carried the gun in an arc until it collided with the door frame, denting it beyond repair.  Mrs. Kerry's hand was also slammed up against the door frame by her own force, and when the pain had momentarily passed and she could see straight again, she did not like what she saw.

            For one, her hand looked crushed and was bleeding.  For another, more mutants had joined the teenager.  There was a wild-looking man with hair swept up to the sides to resemble ears or owl feathers, another man with a red and gold visor covering his eyes, and a girl with predominant white streaks in her hair.  "Now, please," said Shadowcat, "Let us take your daughter to safety before any further mishaps happen."

            Mrs. Kerry opened her mouth to protest again when slender hands drew her aside.  Eva stood at the door now.  "Who are you people?" she demanded, "What do you want?"

            "We are the X-Men," offered Cyclops, the guy with the visor, "We are here to take you to safety.  Possessing the mutant gene at this time is not exactly favorable with the public at this point."

            "You're mutants," said Eva dumbly, "And you're telling me…that I'm one?"  She bristled.  "Are you telling me that I belong to the same group as those monsters that killed Danny?  Are you calling me a freak?"  Her last words dissolved into an angry roar and she found herself again in the body of an animal.  Judging from her striped orange paws, she assumed that she was a tiger.  This time, she was glad of the transformation as she leapt towards the X-Men, hoping to scatter them, chase them away from her home, where she was truly safe.

            Eva went through Shadowcat, lunged towards the guy with the freaky hair.  Wolverine unsheathed his adamantium claws, but then let them slide back into his hands when Cyclops yelled not to hurt her.  Instead, Wolverine ducked and let her collide into the fence surrounding the backyard.  At long last, Eva was tired out, and found herself back in her human form.  She turned to smile ruefully at her mother, but found herself face to face with a white-faced woman who was pointing a shaking finger at her.

            "You…you…" gasped Mrs. Kerry, "You're one of _them_!"  She threw the remains of the rifle at Eva, the wild throw missing her daughter and crashing into the open closet.  "Get out!  Get out, you monster!"  More things were hurled at Eva, and the girl was finally forced to flee the house, sobbing.  Numb with shock, she was too weak to even resist when Wolverine and Rogue dragged her onto the jet and took off.

            Sometime around 8:00 at night, Eva woke up.  At first she panicked, not knowing where she was.  Then she vaguely remembered Rogue and Wolverine leading her onto the jet.  The panicked feeling was subdued, but not put aside.  Eva got off of the cot that she was on and tried to feel her way out of whatever room she was in.  She groped around in the darkness and finally sat down on the floor in resignation.  She wished that she could have better night vision…like a cat, maybe.  A cat.  She recalled rather calmly that she had been informed that she was a mutant.  "Might as well as put this little gift, curse, what-have-you to work," she mumbled.  Now…how did this transformation thing work?  The previous two times had happened all on accident.  Maybe something about emotions.  She had turned into a wolf when she had felt extremely lonely, and into a tiger when she had become really steamed with the X-men.  A cat.  How could she put herself into the mentality of a cat?

            Fish.  Maybe thinking about fish would do the trick.  She pictured fish in her head.  She tried thinking positive thoughts about the fish.  She waited.  Nothing happened.  Frustrated, Eva thought about yarn instead.  What did felines think about, anyway?  Finally at the end of her wits, Eva picked herself up and banged her head on the wall several times.  "Stupid power," she growled.  "Stupid, stupid abilities.  Stupid not-going-to-work-when-it's-supposed-to.  Stupid turning-me-into-inconvenient-animals.  Stupid getting-me-into-some-random-place.  Stupid, stupid, stupid…"

            Eva's ranting session was cut short when someone cracked open the door on the opposite side of the room.  The bright light coming from outside momentarily blinded her and she shrieked and covered her eyes with her hands.  "You all right, kid?" growled Wolverine.  Watching Eva curl up into a fetal position and whimpering about "not the light, not the light," Wolverine sighed and walked away.  "She's awake," he informed the rest of the crew on the Blackbird.  "Someone go talk to her, I don't think she likes me."  He smiled ruefully at Rogue.

            Rogue caught herself blushing and checked herself.  With Kitty in tow, she entered the room that held their new recruit.

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AN: Like?  Hate?  Anybody actually read this?  Ten reviews and I write the next chapter!


	2. Enter the Chameleon

AN: Well, thanks for all of the support!  My review replies are at the end of the chapter.  I never expected such positive feedback (exception of Freelove ::cough, hack::), so thanks!  And, ::trumpet fanfare:: I'm going to introduce Brian in this chapter!  More Logan/Rogue stuff!  And, if you were wondering, this is set after X2, which means that Jean is dead.

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            Eva heard shoes scuffing closer.  Two people.  She could hear their soft voices conversing.  One of them she recognized just barely.  It was that girl… that girl that was talking to her mother.  Who had gotten her mother so mad.  Mad.  A sudden onslaught of tears threatened to spill from her emerald eyes.  This was just too much.  First Daddy, then Uncle Steve, then Danny…and now this.  Was she a mutant?  Was she also to be hated and feared?  Was she the very thing that she loathed just hours ago?  Exhaustion set in and she groaned and closed her eyes.

            She heard the door creak just ever so slightly.  Her eyes flew open in alarm and she pressed herself against the wall, feeling trapped.  Miles away from home, probably.  On some jet with mutants.  People like her.  And just moments ago, she had rejected them with a ferocity.  The same kind of rejection that her mother had presented her with when she found out that Eva was a mutant.  Tears ran down the sides of her distinctly Asian face and she sniffled.

            "Hey," said a southern accented voice, "Eva, right?"  A girl a little older than Eva stood in the doorway accompanied by the other girl who had been talking to her mother.  Eva nodded silently, not trusting her voice.  "I'm Rogue," said the girl with the white streaks in her hair, "and this is Kitty."  The other girl nodded in acknowledgement.  "So, um, how are you doing?"

            "W-Where am I?" said Eva slowly, her voice hiccupping unintentionally.

            "You're on board the Blackbird with a load full of mutants," said Kitty with a wicked grin.  "We'll be getting back to the Institute soon, but we have to pick up somebody else first.  Another one like you, just found out about his powers, isn't that nice?"

            Kitty's words floated about Eva's mind like matchsticks in the ocean when one matchstick in particular caught her attention.  "Institute?"  Was this some sort of Asylum that they were taking her to?  To brainwash her, maybe.  Get her to fight against the government or something.

            "Xavier's Institute," explained Rogue.  Seeing Eva's alarmed expression, she quickly added, "it's not like on the news, it's more of a school, really.  A school for mutants.  People like us can live in safety there."

            Eva couldn't take it any more.  They were talking like they were some sort of protection plan agency.  Protection from _what_?  "Safety?!" she burst out, "I was rather nice and happy and safe before all this mutant business started.  I was safe back home before you came.  I don't _want_ to live with people who killed my family!  Safe from _what_?"

            Rogue and Kitty exchanged uncomfortable glances.  Finally, Kitty spoke.  "Remember what your ma did when she found out about your…mutation?"

            Eva's Irish eyes swam with tears and she put her head in her arms and cried.  She'd been doing a lot of that lately.  If I was given a penny for every tear I shed, she thought numbly, I would be filthy rich by now.  "Mom said that she loved me," she whispered.  "She said that with the war and all going on, we were going to stick to each other like glue, no matter what!  When Daddy died, and then Uncle Steve, and then…Danny…she said that we had to hang tight together…because we were all we had…"  She gave up on words and sobbed uncontrollably.  Her Chinese mother and Eva herself had been so devastated when Eva's Irish father had died.  Eva hadn't been able to imagine a greater pain.  But this depression that she was feeling right now was much, much greater.  It was almost like being disowned, losing all the family that she had left.  Feeling so empty, so lonely.  She felt the change earlier this time, more familiar, almost a welcome transformation.  Paws, tail, ears, fur.  She heard Rogue's gasp and nearly smiled despite her tears.

            The long silence was finally broken by Kitty's voice.  "Remind me not to say that again anytime in the near future."  Rogue giggled.  (Now there's a scary thought, Rogue giggling?)  Kitty reached out tentatively and scratched Eva between the ears.  Eva sniffled in startled surprise and blinked at Kitty.  "Hmmm, Rogue, what're we going to do now?  Scott's gonna kill us for causing her to use her mutation."

            "Us?  Kitty, you said the magic words, remember?" teased Rogue.  Eva whimpered.  This was actually more comfortable and all, finally being able to see in the dark, cat or no, but she was getting a bit claustrophobic now that she saw that the room wasn't really that big at all.  Rogue sighed audibly.  "C'mon, Kitty let's introduce Eva to the rest of the wonderful people on this thing."  She eyed Eva.  "D'you want to be carried or can you walk?" she joked.  Eva gave her a look, her tears all but forgotten as she felt strangely delightful in the skin of a wolf.  Kitty laughed and led the way out of the room and into the cockpit.

            The first person who noticed their arrival was Wolverine.  He blinked at the white wolf following at Rogue's heels.  "Rogue, Kitty, what've you done?" he said.  Kitty averted her eyes uncomfortably.  Rogue blushed.  Eva quietly gave a wolf snicker under her breath.  Logan spared her a warning glance.  "Hush up there, shapeshifter," he growled.

            Kitty cleared her throat.  "Um, Eva's still trying to, uh, grasp her ability…" She looked towards Rogue for support.

            "Yeah," said Rogue quickly, scarlet hue tingeing her cheeks, "she'll be back to normal soon."  Her eyes darted down to Eva who sat nonchalantly on her haunches.  Eva gave a wolfy grin and nodded enthusiastically.  "Why don't you introduce yourself, Logan?"

            Logan blinked and squatted down in front of the wolf.  He looked a little uncomfortable at the prospect of talking to a mutant-turned-animal.  The wolf tensed a bit at his presence as well.  "Uh, hi.  I'm Logan.  And um, I've got these great happy adamantium claws, see?"  With a soft 'snikt!', three blades slid gracefully out between his knuckles on his left hand.  "So ye'll not want ta be attackin' me as a tiger any time soon."  He frowned at the memory of his brief battle with her.  Eva blinked lazily up at him.  She yawned widely, white ears twitching ever so slightly.  Logan patted her between the ears awkwardly and stood up.

            "See?  That wasn't so bad," said Rogue, grinning at Logan.  Wow, she has a pretty smile, thought Logan, hmmm, has she been using a new kind of lip gloss?  Shaking his head to clear these thoughts, he looked down at Eva.  It was hard to believe that something, or someone, for that matter, that had been viciously attacking him not so long ago was now a docile, peaceful creature.

            Eva's mind was now completely at ease.  For the first time since last night, she felt safe again.  Safe amongst these people that she had thought of as enemies.  It was kind of ironic, the way that she had slipped out of one world and into another in less than twenty-four hours.  But these mutants, they were just like people at home.  Talking, laughing, living life to the fullest, more friendly, even.  Then she suddenly realized that their logic wasn't that much different from her mother's.  They were all they had, so they clung to each other through thick and thin.  Like a family.  Slowly, her paws changed back into hands, melding back into fingers and thumbs and furless skin.  Her tail shrunk into nothingness; her hair grew back.  The transition felt so comfortable, so natural.  So this is what it's like to be a mutant, she mused.  It's like a part of life.  Eating, breathing—she looked down at her hands as her nails slowly appeared—mutation.  She found herself on all fours, still blinking up at Logan and Rogue chattering to each other.  Kitty offered her a hand up, and Eva took it with a thank you.

            "Alright, people, let's buckle in, we're landing," called the tired voice of the pilot, the guy who had called himself Cyclops.  Eva sat down in one of the various seats in the back and looked out the window.  They were flying towards what seemed to be a normal house.  This must be the other mutant they were talking about, she thought.  Another one like me.  She wondered if he would be confused, too.  It was a time of war, the press and everything, they all said that mutants were evil, bad.  Eva had always believed it all.  But now she was having second thoughts.  She realized that mutants were like people.  Not everyone was bad, nor was everyone good.  There was a choice, as always.  After all, she was a mutant now, wasn't she?  Was she evil?  She certainly didn't think so.  Kitty and Rogue were nice to her too, even with Eva trying to kill them and all.

Eva's reverie was broken by the slight pressure pressing in on her ears, and as the ground loomed closer.  Grass and leaves were blown away as the jet tentatively landed on the front lawn.  A feeling of déjà vu consumed Eva and she unbuckled and followed Rogue out.  A heavy hand on her shoulder stopped her.  She turned and saw Logan.  Eva looked at him questioningly.

"I'm not sure that you should go," he said.  "After all, you only just got onboard, and…well, I don't think you should participate in this here thing today." 

"But he's another one like me," she insisted, "maybe I can talk to him, convince him that mutants—it isn't as bad as he thinks."

"Last time I checked," Logan rumbled in fair humor, "you weren't so sure about that yerself."  (Yes, people, I give you ::drum roll:: the on-and-off accent!  You never know when it might show up!  And you thought that Storm's was bad!)

Eva opened and closed her mouth several times, then sighed dejectedly.  "Can I at least watch?" she asked meekly.  Logan was about to refuse, just for the heck of it, when Rogue showed up out of nowhere.

"Oh, c'mon Logan," she said, her southern belle accent playing on his ears lightly, "it can't hurt.  'Sides, d'you want to have her change into a tiger on you again?"  Logan seemed to consider that prospect for a moment, then sighed.

"All right, ye can go watch," he said as though he was talking to a little five-year-old instead of Eva, "but don't interfere with procedures."  Rogue grinned at him again and followed him out of the jet.  Eva blinked after the two.  Rogue has influence on Logan, the simple logic part of he brain said, make friends with Rogue, don't risk it with Logan.  She nodded to herself and set off to watch the 'procedures.'

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Brian's P.O.V.

            I can hardly believe it.  Me, Brian Matthews, a mutant.  Well, I have to be, right?  How else can I do this painlessly?  I look at my hands.  They're clear, liquid, yet held into place by some unseen force, some barrier that serves as my skin in this state.  Fiona is swimming around in my right hand.  She doesn't seem to mind.  But, then again, can fish mind anything at all, even if they wanted to?  I keep staring at my hands.  How my flesh and bone became water is beyond me.  It has to be mutation, the next step in evolution.  I've heard about it on TV.  The Discovery Channel had a segment about it a couple weeks ago.  Something about the ability to do stuff that normal people don't do, can't do.

            All I remember is that I was cleaning out Fiona's tank.  Fiona's this fish that I got from Mom and Dad for my seventeenth birthday last week.  She's from the Great Barrier Reef.  Dad said that if you have connections, you can get some pretty neat stuff.  I couldn't agree more.  Fiona's beautiful.  She's small, but her petite scales display gorgeous color over her sides.  Her fins are near transparent.  I'm happy to just sit in front of my dresser and just watch her swim around.  She's so much of a stress reliever.  I look at her, and all my troubles go away.

            Anyways, I was cleaning her tank, and she sort of fell out of the net that I was scooping her out in.  I tried to catch her, and the next thing I know, my hands are feeling…well, different.  They were still hands, but not as solid.  And Fiona, she's _swimming_ around in there.  It's kinda cool.

            But now, I'm wondering, what're Mom and Dad gonna think about this?  Mom insists that she's neutral when it comes to mutants.  But Dad doesn't hate 'em, he growls at dinnertime, he loathes 'em with a passion.  But I guess I'm okay with mutants.  I mean, it isn't their fault that they've—we've—been gifted with the key to evolution.  Maybe if Mom and Dad see that I'm a mutant, they'll be okay with them, too.  I hope.

            So now it's dinnertime.  I finished cleaning the tank and put Fiona back in.  My hands took a while to turn back to normal.  I played around with my ability for a while.  It seems that it responds to whatever I'm thinking of at the moment.  I actually turned into a gas at some point.  Might have been helium.  Not sure which.

Right now, I'm finishing my Mac and Cheese.  Mom's not been feeling well lately, so Dad's cooking.  Or, trying to.  I don't think that he's ever done anything more than boil water before.  The Mac and Cheese is okay, I guess.  Not enough water, so it's sort of sticking to the roof of my mouth until I can find where Dad put the milk.

Okay, found the milk.  Finished dinner.  I put down my fork and say, "Dad, you know about the mutants and stuff?"  Okay, lame start, elaborate, _fast_.  "Uh, like Magneto and them?"  Right, give examples.  What did my Oral Presentations sheet from last year say again?

"That son of a bitch?" my dad grunts, "Year, 'course I know about 'em."

"Well," I start hesitantly.  Dad doesn't like mutants.  He _really_ doesn't like mutants.  What to do?  Cut to the chase and let's go.  "I – I was cleaning out Fiona's tank today…and…" I pause in a fit of the nervous jitters.

"Brian, what is it?" my mom asks, putting a soft hand on my shoulder.  "You can tell us.  Don't worry, honey."

I take a deep breath.  "I – I found out that I can do this."  I roll up my sleeve and concentrated on my fingers.  _Water_, I command them silently, figuring that becoming something familiar should be easier, _please, turn me into water_.  I can physically see the transformation this time.  The luxurious chill spreading throughout my veins, liquidizing them.  The clear bluish tint replaces my normal pale skin tones, the composition change following close behind.  It stops at my wrist, and I look up at my dad to see his face contorted in rage.  Mom gasps, and doubles over in pain, clutching her lower abdomen.  _A baby_, I realize suddenly, _Mom's pregnant._  I reach over to her, but Dad clutches my arm.

"Keep _away_ from her," he growls dangerously, "_mutant_."

"Dad," I stammer, my entire arm turning into water in my distress.  Dad lets go of me immediately, as though the water is some type of poison.  "Mom…is she okay?  Dad?  _Dad!_"  I hastily stand up from the table, my chair clattering to the ground behind me.  Dad wields a salad fork, and my eyes dart over to the spot above the mantle, where he keeps Grandpa's rifle.  He follows my gaze.  He laughs harshly.

"Yeah, mutant," he says, "once I get my hands on that gun, ye're as good as finished."

"Dad!" I yell, "Dad, what're you doing?"  He's trying to stab me with the salad fork.  I've turned completely into water now.  He's gotten to the rifle.  "Dad!  I'm Brian, you're son!"

"Ye're no son o' mine!" he spits.  "Traitor, murderous scum!  How could a patriot like me spawn a devil like you?"  He shoots at me, the bullet passes through me.  There is no actual pain, although the impact causes a pinch-like feeling in my stomach.

"Thomas!" screams my mom.  "Stop it!  Thomas, you fool!  That's your own son you're shootin' at!"  Dad doesn't listen, he's just shooting at me, and I'm trying to run all over the place.  Dad's crazy.  Why is he shooting at _me_?  Oh, no.  He's realized that the gun isn't doing much.  He's gotten under the sink and taken out the mop.  He's advancing now.  Slowly, he knows that I've got nowhere to run.

"C'mon, now," he coos with a terrible smirk, "is the mutant scared?  C'mere… Daddy will make it all…BETTER!"  He lunges at me, but he is suddenly jerked back by a small but strong hand.

"Damn you, Thomas!" cries Mom, "He's your son, for God's sake!  Your own blood is in that boy!  You can't do this to your own son!  You can't do this to me!"

"Gerrout o' my way, woman!" yells Dad.  A powerful elbow connects with Mom's belly and Mom topples back, consumed with pain.  Somehow, I get past Dad and the mop.  I'm shielding Mom, even though it's me Dad wants gone.  _No son of mine_…tears prick my eyes as I look up as Dad prepares to plunge the mop into me.

A beam of red light strikes the mop, and it explodes in Dad's hands.  With a roar, he spins around.  I see four people in the doorway.  One of them has a visor on, a ruby band through gold.  "I'll thank you to leave the boy alone now," he says.

Dad turns his bloodshot eyes to me.  "Called in yer little friends, did you?"  He smiles grimly as he picks up his discarded rifle.  "Come and get it, you little (insert random swear word here)!"  He shoots at the other guy, the one with blades…attached to his hands?  The guy barely moves to dodge it, he's standing in front of a girl with a white streak in her hair.  I guess if he moves away, then she'll get hit, and then what kind of trouble would they be in?  But this guy suddenly makes a slicing movement with his blades.  Two bullet halves drop to the ground.  (Wow, Wolvie's been training!)

It's inferno in the living room.  The girl with the white streak's figured that she can't do much so she's come over to talk to me while the battle rages on beside us.  "Go upstairs and get your stuff," she urges, "once this is done with, we're taking you somewhere safe.  And be quick about it!"

I run upstairs and look around my room.  There isn't much to pack.  Clean socks, underwear, clothes.  I look over at Fiona.  I have to take her, too.  I can't just leave her here.  But the tank's too big to carry.  I glance at my hands.  Just about everything's back to normal now.  Only my arms are water.  I reach into the tank and let Fiona swim into my hand.  I also pack my animal encyclopedia, which is huge.  All of this goes into a navy blue duffle bag with endangered species badges clipped on in various places.  I look back at my room one last time before I leave.  This emptiness, a painful emptiness, is growing in my chest.

When was nine, Dad told me, "Now, I want you to know that your Mom and I will always love you.  You can do drugs and get thrown in jail and screw around a bit, but we'll still love you.  That's because we're your parents, and there was never a father who didn't love his son."  Tears run down my face.  The first time that I've really cried since my best friend died in a car accident two years ago.  Silent sobs rack my body.

The girl with the white streak comes in to check on me.  "Hey, you ready—" she sees my tears.  "You okay?"  I wipe the tears away with the back of my hand, embarrassed that I was caught crying.

"Yeah," I say.  The duffle bag feels slightly heavy and reassuring in my hands.  I lift up my right hand and I see Fiona swimming in it.  Looking at her patient movements, I feel the tension leave my body.  I follow the girl down the stairs.  I see my dad being held back by the guy with the blades.

"Go, Rogue," growls the guy, "I'll take care of his pa.  You go ahead and get the kid onboard the Blackbird with our little animal shape-shifter."  That catches my attention.  They have an animal shape-shifter?  When we reach the doorway where the other girl is, I turn around to look at Dad.

"Bye, Dad," I say uncertainly, "please take care of Mom, okay?  Dad…I love you."  Lame as it sounds, I want him to know that, despite all the things that he's done tonight, I still love him.  Because I'm his son.  And what son doesn't love his father?

"Rot in Hell, mutant!" he spits at me.  The guy with the blades, who Rogue calls Wolverine, extends his claws until the touch Dad's chin.

"Yer boy's sayin' goodbye," he says softly, dangerously, "Aren't ye goin' to at least give 'im a fare-thee-well?"  (The accent thingy returns!)

"Hey," I say after a while, when all Dad does is glare daggers at me.  "It's okay, it really is.  I – I forgive him."  I give Dad a pained look.  "What kind of son would I be if I didn't?"

Wolverine gives my dad a dirty look.  "Ye should be damn glad I ain't yer son," he says to Dad, then throws him into the wall.  "What kind of father are ye, anyway?"  I follow Rogue and her friend out the doorway.  _What kind of father are ye, anyway?_  I finally met the father who didn't love his son anymore.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

            Eva shook her head in amazement.  She couldn't believe how his father could do that to his own son.  But then again, she couldn't figure out why her mother had done what she did.  _We're not so different, you and I_, she thought as she stood to the side when Rogue and Kitty led the guy onto the jet and she followed.  _This war, it's tearing apart families,_ she realized, _just like the Civil War did._  And the Civil War had been wrong.  No country should turn on itself like it did during the Civil War.  Like it did now.

            Onboard the Blackbird, the guy seemed to be trying to take his mind off his father as much as possible by asking questions.  He was an animal lover.  That much was apparent from all the Save the Whatever badges.  He had blonde hair and blue-green eyes.  He hadn't seen her yet.  She stepped into the cockpit and cleared her throat, suddenly feeling self-conscious in her cream blouse and black pants.  "Um, hi," she stuck out an awkward hand.  "I'm Eva Kerry."  _Oh, nice going_, she thought to herself, _Hello, I'm Eva.  When Rogue said the same thing earlier, I was so wigged that I most likely  would've turned into something awful if I had had the experience.  Just my luck, the guy'll probably become a wall of towering flames._  She blinked.  The guy took her hand and started talking.

            "Hi, nice to meet you, I guess," he said.  _Keep babbling, Brian.  Just don't let your emotions get the better of you.  If I start crying or something, everyone's gonna think you're a wimp._  "I'm Brian Matthews."  He looked at Eva.  She didn't look as confident as the other girls.  She was holding back, or something.  She didn't quite fit in, not quite.  Well, that and she wasn't decked out in black leather.  "So, um.  You're a mutant too, right?"

            Eva winced, and Brian regretted that he asked.  He opened his mouth to apologize, but she stopped him.  "No, no, it's okay.  I'm a…a mutant."  Eva swallowed hard.  It shouldn't be so hard, she thought, admitting what she really was, who she really was.  After all, he was as much of a mutant as she was.  At Brian's inquiring look, she continued.  "I…I can change into animals.  I think.  I'm not sure of exactly what my ability is yet."

            "So you're the animal shapeshifter!" Brian exclaimed.  Then he asked out of pure curiosity, "You new to this thing too?"  Eva nodded.  "How new?"

            "Only just found out last night," said Eva softly.  "Got recruited, or whatever the term is for blowing your cover to your parents and then dragging you to what they call 'safety' only a couple a' hours ago and—" she stopped her outburst.  "I'm sorry, I've just been through a lot."  She looked him over.  She suddenly saw a painful resemblance to Danny in him although the two were nothing alike.  She closed her eyes to regain control of herself before she became a wolf again.  "And…and what about you?  What's your story?"  Great, keep her mind off Danny.  Off her mom, everything that hurt her.

            "Found out this afternoon," said Brian, wondering what had hurt Eva so much.  The pain in her eyes had looked so much like the pain that he'd felt when his dad had said…_Forget, forget, forget._ Murmured a comforting voice in the back of his head.  _Forget about all that, answer the question._  "I can change composition."  He showed her the hand that he had kept liquid.  Fiona was swimming around contentedly.

            Eva looked at Brian's pet with an interest.  "She's beautiful!"  A real animal lover, she thought.  Wouldn't leave his own house without taking his pet with him.  Eva eyed his duffle bag with sudden regret.  She herself had nothing from her house.  Nothing to remind her of her old life.  Which really wasn't a bad thing because her old life pained her now.  And when she was in pain… Brian didn't have to worry about turning into water in the middle of the day.  By the looks of things, he still maintained his physical shape when he changed composition.  But turning into a wolf, or a tiger without warning could prove rather inconvenient.

            "Hey, you okay?" Inquired Brian.  That Eva girl was spacing out again.  He caught her looking at his bag enviously.  _Must've not brought anything of her own_, he thought.  (I've just realized that I'm italicizing some thoughts and not others.  Sorry about the inconvenience!)  He put his hand on her shoulder and she straightened from looking at Fiona at his touch.  It was then that he got a good look at her.  Her face frame and just barely slanted eyes said that she was Asian.  But her eyes were a distinct green and her dark not-quite-black hair suggested European ancestry.  He himself was German…and…and something else.  What was he again?  He couldn't remember as he looked into Eva's evergreen eyes.

            Logan came onboard to see the two holding what seemed to be a rather friendly staring contest.  Neither one blinking, green eyes locking with blue-green ones.  Their faces were only inches apart.  Logan cleared his throat, repeatedly.  Eva and Brian jumped apart, Eva wondering what just happened, Brian turning into various shades of red at an alarming rate.  Logan chuckled in amusement at their startled expressions.  Kids.  Now, when he was a kid, when was he a kid again?  Logan rolled his eyes.  Loss of childhood, another byproduct of memory suppression.  Stupid government peoples, he thought as he went over to the jet cooler and opened a can of beer.

            Brian was still apologizing profusely and Eva was still blinking profusely when Scott got onto the jet.  He raised an eyebrow.  "Hey, kids, can we please move in _this_ general direction?"  He gestured to the seats behind the pilot controls.  The two teenagers obediently went and sat down next to each other, still blinking and apologizing and blushing.  Scott sighed.  Ah, to be young again.

            Logan never really did like Scott.  What with him being all popular with the girls.  Jean, and Storm, heck, even Rogue at some point.  But now that Jean was dead, Scott had gotten really depressed.  And as far as Logan was concerned, watching those two kids made it even worse.  It didn't take the Professor or a psychiatrist to see that behind that visor was a world of hurt.  Logan felt pity for Scott.  He had been so close to Jean.  Closer to her than Logan would have ever cared to get.  Scott had loved her.

            Logan walked up to Scott.  He laid a hand on his arm.  "Hey, Scooter," he said gruffly, "How 'bout you take a break in the back and I'll get us home?"

            Scott looked at him as though the sun had chosen to rise in the west.  "Thank you, Logan."  He walked into the room where Eva had been held earlier and closed the door.  Eva and Brian had long since stopped trying to sort things out and were looking at the closed door of the room.

            "What…was that?" Eva finally ventured.  "What's wrong?"

            "Scott's fiancé died," said Rogue softly, "not so long ago.  She sacrificed herself to save us all."

            "Well," said Kitty, "not all of us.  Remember, I was in that hellish place that Logan put the rest of the students in."  She laughed at the memory, "Jubes was _so_ pissed at being alone with the 'whiny bunch at Stryker's'."  Their jokes, Eva realized, were their way of changing the subject when things got too painful.  But by and by, Rogue and Kitty told them the rest of the story.  It had made them stronger.  Having to live through all the humiliation and prejudice and danger that the government and the normal people had thrown at them had made them stronger.  It had made them closer to each other than a family ever could be.

            And it'll make me stronger, thought Eva.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

AN: Sorry for the crappy ending of this chapter!  I am so tired…-_-zzzzz ::wakes up:: Oops, sorry.  May consider making Brian and Eva a couple.  I currently have also created Nightingale and Python.  Tell me if you want to see them in here too!

Eva realizes _way_ too much.  Holy shit, if she realizes any more, her brain might explode… ::cough, wheeze::  And now for the review replies!  ::much jubilation and trumpet fanfare::

Hey: I listened to your advice, which is why I uploaded this before the 10 reviews were received!

Fireball: It's after the second movie, so Jean's dead and Scott's all angsty and stuff.  Poor Scooter :(  Also watch for some Rogue/Logan fluff! ::pulls out Cupid archery set::

Wicca Angel:  Really?  I love it too!

Po: You know, the world would be so much nicer if it had more people like you!  ::beams::

Bant: Okay, I've reviewed your story!  I really think it's great!  And I was originally was going to call this story 'Wars of Evolution', but it slipped out of my mind when I was uploading!  So if 'Fang' doesn't show up next time and 'Wars of Evolution' pops up out of nowhere, that's where this story'll be!

Freelove: Picky, picky, picky.  Last time I checked, your story didn't include Blade's gender and you had to include it later on in the author's notes.  ::snigger::  And the world is much better off without 'Me'.  Don't tell me he/she/it reincarnated in your body or something.  ::takes out torch:: Or I'm going to have to exorcise you, k?

SO, press the handy dandy blue button and tell me what you think!  Include whether you want Nightingale and/or Python in here, please!  And, no, I'm not telling you what they can do just yet!  I am SO evil ::cackles::  So review, please?  Thanks!


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